Avon Paramedic, 32, Killed in Head-On Collision

AMR Paramedic Donavan Alden, 32, of Avon, was killed after his vehicle was struck head on under a West Hartford railroad overpass Sunday, March 30, according to West Hartford Police.

Alden was on his way to work for his shift at AMR, according to a press release from West Hartford Police Captain Jeffrey Rose. The accident took place at approximately 6:44 a.m. Sunday, March 30, He was traveling east on New Britain Avenue.

“As you can imagine, this tragedy is very hard on the AMR family,” Rose said via email.

A car driven by Karen Torres, 33, of New Britain, was traveling west on New Britain Avenue, Rose said.

Under the railroad overpass, just east of New Park Avenue, Rose said Torres' car crossed the double yellow lines and crashed head-on into Alden's car, a 2006 Mini Cooper that had heavy front end and rear damage.

A car driven by Zeeshan Rashid, 33, of Newington, was directly behind Alden. Rashid's car crashed into the rear of Alden's car. His car is a 2009 Nissan Maxima and it sustained heavy front end damage.

Torres and Rashid were both injured and transported to Hartford Hospital. Rose describes Torres’ injuries as severe. Her car is a 2008 Subaru Legacy that sustained heavy front end damage.

The crash is under investigation by the West Hartford Police crash reconstruction team. Officer Eric Butkiewicz is the lead investigator.

Anyone with information is asked to call West Hartford Police at 860-523-5203.